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A man in New York has nothing but fists for fingers. Fists for each finger. For him, guitar playing is just punching, punching.

Behind him is a box and a very large guitar amp. Around his waist is a heavy chain. The chain is attached to a gurney. On the gurney is the box and the very large guitar amp. The wheels are squeaky and there is no grease to fix them.

The man in New York is small and thin. His heart is weak, so he sucks on his fist-fingers to get blood to his arms and hands. So he sucks on his toes to get the blood to his legs and feet. So he grabs a rubber tube and sticks one end to his ear and sticks the other in his mouth to suck the blood into his head.

He could ask someone to suck on his ears, but he won't. He could ask for help pulling his amp, but he won't.

He wants no one to touch nothing. Or anything. He wants someone to touch nothing. Or none of anything. He wants you to touch nothing of his. Yours, yes. Not his. Nothing. Not anything.

It's his.

It's like razors, his shoulder blades. It's like razors.

It's like barbed wire, his eyes. It's like barbed wire.

It's like spoiled milk, his voice. It's like spoiled milk.

And all that's fuck it, fuck all.

Pre-order Matthew Simmons' minibook The Moon Tonight Feels My Revenge today, just $8 (w/ free shipping) at Keyhole's website. I can't wait to read this.

My story "A Tree or a Person or a Wall" has just been published in The Lifted Brow 7, the newest issue of one of my favorite literary magazines. Published out of Australia, the editors of The Lifted Brow have been putting out big beautiful issues for a couple years now, each one filled with a great mix of innovative writers and artists. This issue is no expection, and includes writing from Blake Butler, Diane Williams, Rob Shearman, Nick Modrzewski, Michaela McGuire, Phil Estes, Arthur S Halsey Jr, Bryce Wolfgang Joiner, Matt Bell, Bryan Whalen, Kate Cantrell, Tim McGuire, Ryan Call, Shane Jesse Christmass, Blake Kimzey, Jimmy Chen, Kate McIntyre, Dan Moreau, Brian Evenson, Dan Piepenbring, Frank Moorhouse, Johannes Jakob, Chris Somerville, Chris Currie, Dolan Morgan, AS Patric, Kim Chinquee, Leesa Wockner, Mike Meginnis, AE Reiff, Paul Murdock, Thuy Linh Nguyen, Zachary German, Krissy Kneen, Joel Van Noord, Gabe Durham, David Finig, Jensen Beach, and Sam Pink; comics by C.F. and Kirsten Reed; and illustrations by Matt Furie, Howell Golson, Alexi Keywan, Gabrielle Bell, Jeffrey Brown, Lisa Brown, Bernard Caleo, Eirian Chapman, Josh Cotter, Jo Dery, Phil Elverum, Michael P Fikaris, Lisa Hanawalt, John Hankiewicz, Sarah Howell, Lee May, Scot Nobles, Woodley Nye, Ron Rege Jr, Seripop, Mel Stringer, and Jo Waite.

"A Tree or a Person or a Wall" is one of the few full-length short stories I have coming out this year, since I've spent the bulk of the year novel-writing. Here's the first passage of the story:

Even before the man with rough hands brought the boy to the locked room, even then there was always already the albino ape sitting on the chair beside the nightstand, waiting for the man and the boy to come.

 Once inside the room, the man with rough hands carried the boy across the musty carpet and laid him upon the bed, which he told the boy he was not allowed to leave, and that if he tried to there would be consequences.

The man said, I do not want to restrain you, but I do have a number of restraints available.

He said, I do not want to hurt you, and then he pointed to the ape, which picked a melon from a bowl on the nightstand and wrenched the fruit's rind open with its white-furred fists.

While the ape licked the juice from its pale fingers, the man with rough hands said again, I do not wish to hurt you, and then he left the locked room for the hallway beyond its door.

After a while, the boy sat up on the bed. He tucked his scraped knees up under his chin, wrapped his bruised arms around his legs, and then he stared at the ape.

He stared at the ape, and the ape stared back.

You can order a copy of The Lifted Brow 7 or a subscription here. Thanks to Ronnie Scott and the rest of the Lifted Brow staff for including my work in the issue, and for doing such a spectacular job at all times. If you haven't seen the magazine before, definitely pick up the issue or subscribe. It's always a beauty, and the table of contents here suggests the contents of this new issue are going to be spectacular.

I'm happy to have my story "Alex Trebek Never Eats Fried Chicken" reprinted in On the Clock: Contemporary Short Stories on Work, an anthology edited by Jeff Vande Zande and Josh Maday and published by Bottom Dog Press. In addition to my story, you'll find work by an excellent group of writers, including many friends and others writers I admire greatly: Jim Daniels, Bonnie Jo Campbell, Daniel Orozco, Kennebrew Surant, Rick Attig, Lolita Hernandez, Michael Martone, Matthew Salesses, M. Kaat Toy, Sean Lovelace, Billie Louise Jones, Lita Kurth, Anne Shewring, Dustin M. Hoffman, Tania Hershman, Nick Kocz, Michael Zadoorian, Steve Himmer, Peter Anderson, and Pete Fromm.

Thanks so much to Jeff and Josh for including my story in the book. I just got my contributor copies last week, and I'm looking forward and settling into the book itself very soon, especially since so many writers I'm already a fan of are included beside me. I'm sure the few I don't know already will be great too.

You can pre-order my collection How They Were Found with Aaron Burch's How to Predict the Weather directly from Keyhole for just $19.99. I'm not sure how long the deal will last, so move fast!